Do you feel that?

Super Bowl Sunday

Murl and I were at the dog beach Sunday for the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook most of Southern California and parts of Mexico. No, CA did not disconnect from North America and drift off into the ocean as I often wished it would before I moved here.

We were enjoying a beautiful Easter Sunday on the beach with Slough Belle, our dog, when I felt that funny sensation of the Earth rumbling below my feet. Being on the beach, with no rattling dishes or china, I thought that I was having a dizzy spell and was about to pass out. I looked at my feet and then up at Murl to see that by the look on her face, she was experiencing the same thing. I looked around the beach to see many people with a look of confusion. Beyond the beach, the trees on the nearby golf course were shaking unusually. This all transpired over the course of about 3 seconds, and the quake went on for what seemed to be minutes. Shortly after the quake, we concluded a beach is a real safe place to be for an earthquake, but not for a tsunami, so we left.

Other than finding a tipped over picture on a shelf in our house, a few interior doors shut that we always keep open and an open cabinet that was shut when we left, the earthquake that killed several people in Mexico had little impact on me…until Monday that is.

When I got to work on Monday and people were busy recounting the “Where I was and what I was doing during the quake…blah, blah, blah,” I realized the importance of a small detail of my version of the story.

So, let’s go back to the dog beach. This is a 400m x 200m stretch of beach that welcomes unleashed dogs to do what unleashed dogs do. There are literally hundreds of dogs and owners running around with a variety of toys and such. Dogs splashing in the surf and owners throwing things, blowing whistles, and chasing the throws in the surf that their dogs won’t retrieve…got it? Murl and I tend to stay right on the perimeter so as not to become part of the wet sandy chaos. It is interesting to see dogs interact with one another. It is funny to see your dog respond to someone else’s whistle and then get there and realize that is not where they are supposed to be and then look around and see 50 possible owners that all look like the right owner from a few hundred feet away. Once Slough Belle did this and then ran right past us at a full sprint and caught up with a couple on the beach a 100m away and had that realization all over again and finally came back. It was funny.

Then the Earth starts shaking. About the time I was sure it was the Earth and not just me, this yahoo comes running up to me chasing his dog (who has a stolen ball in its mouth) who is chasing my dog (who has his ball in her mouth)…[keep in mind, at this time Murl is holding on to me so she “won’t fall down.”] As the guy runs up to me, he starts yapping about how funny it is that “the dogs just want what the other dogs have and aren’t interested in what they already have.” I tried to interrupt him by asking, “Do you feel that?…It is an earthquake…it is happening right now!” This idiot didn’t hear a word I said. He just got his ball that Slough had now dropped and went back to his friends. Now that you have a good visual, let’s go back to my cubicle.

So, as I often do, I got to thinking. There are a few points of interest in this story.

A) Why didn’t this guy feel the Earth violently shaking beneath his feet when almost everyone else on the beach did?

A) Answer: For the same reason that there are many people “sleeping” right now, for the same reason our government is made up of crooks and liars, and for the same sad reason that self-serving politicians are slowly choking the life out of America. And that reason is far too many Americans are too consumed with themselves and think that their little bubble is the most important thing on Earth. Whether it is someone who thinks that the world starts and stops at the boundary of their parish, county or city, or someone who thinks that as an individual they are allowed to do whatever they want without consequence, too many people go through life everyday without concern for the world around them or the people in it…it is apathy, it is people being so consumed with themselves they don’t even see the world around them, it is people being indifferent to everything. It transcends generations, socioeconomic classes, and state lines. It is the force that keeps countries like Afghanistan operating centuries behind the rest of the world, and the same force that is dragging America to her knees.

B) What makes an animal take what is not his?

B) God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Moses passed those on the Israelites. He eventually wrote them down in the book of Exodus. We were taught them growing up. They used to be commonplace in public buildings such as courthouses. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL is clearly one of the big 10. What does that have to do with dogs? NOTHING. Animals don’t have logical thoughts. They cannot be taught religion or rules like this, so what happens…they act like animals. So, what happens when we take God and Christian principles out of schools and public places?…We get animals. People that loot, rape, and murder during times of natural disaster. High school kids that violently rape a student at a homecoming dance. Pre-teens that light another kid on fire. Chicago teens that beat and kill an honor student and film the incident. People going to work or school and shooting up the place killing innocent people. Flying a fuel laden aircraft into a government building. A neighbor mounts a full assault on a family eating Easter dinner, killing the mother and father. Sex offenders that steal the soul of their defenseless victims. Do you think for a minute that we would have a fraction of the violent/senseless crime or corruption we see today if more people knew God and his simple rules of “Love me and love your neighbors?”

C) Why didn’t Slough know how to get back to Murl and me when she went off on her own?

C) Answer: This goes hand in hand with the previous response. Slough knows who we are. When we walk in the house, she knows that we are the people that are supposed to walk in the house. Add a few people to our house, and she still knows who we are. Put her out in the world, and it gets a bit more confusing. The same holds true for people if you don’t have a solid foundation on which to base your decisions of right and wrong. If we have to ask ourselves “Can I get away with this?” We should probably be asking ourselves “Why am I considering this?...Would I look at this website if my mom was looking over my shoulder?...How does this affect those I love?” The ability to do the right thing all the time when no one is watching is the value of integrity. The only way to be able to make decisions with honor and integrity is with a solid foundation. I think a suitable foundation is provided per discussion (B).

If you know someone that is “sleeping,” wake them up. If you know someone who is “asleep in Christ,” you owe it to them to wake them up. If you don’t know what I am talking about, WAKE UP!

BMP